Here’s How James Wan Will Turn ‘Underdog’ Aquaman Into A Total Badass

April 18, 2016

Crystal

Regardless of how you felt about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, you probably walked away wanting to know more about the other guys. You know, the meta-humans that we were briefly introduced in Zack Snyder’s arduous, 2.5 hour superhero opus and then all but forgotten about. Lucky for you, you won’t have to wait too long to dive into the DC Expanded Universe’s superhero canon.

James Wan, the man responsible for helming horror staples Saw and The Conjuring, has been tapped to direct the forthcoming Aquaman film starring Jason Momoa as the King of Atlantis. Now, when you think of Aquaman, you probably think of that friendly dork who talks to fish and rides dolphins and has an adorable octopus buddy for a sidekick—a depiction made famous by Super Friends.

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Does this mean Momoa will have an adorable octopus buddy for a sidekick too?” Well, no. Because this is Snyder’s DC Expanded Universe, and Wan’s take exposes Aquaman for who he truly is: A total badass.

“A big part of it was me telling them what potential I saw in this character,” Wan told MTV News while promoting The Conjuring 2 at CinemaCon on April 14. “As we all know, Aquaman is somewhat the butt of the joke in the superhero world. There’s something cool about that. I love the idea of being the underdog, coming in with a take on this underdog character and completely blow people’s expectations away. Like, ’Oh, you thought he was going to be a wimpy character? No no no.’ It’s going to be so cool.”

But this won’t be your average superhero origin story. By the time Aquaman gets his solo venture in 2018, we will have already been introduced to Atlantean king in Snyder’s The Justice League: Part One.

“There’s Justice League that happens before it, so I have to be respectful to that,” Wan said. “But in a lot of ways… it’s a continuation but there are origin elements as well—and that’s the story that I’m excited to tell.”

And tell it he will when Aquaman dives into theatres on July 27, 2018.